746. Blur - Modern Life is Rubbish (1993)

Track Listing

1. For Tomorrow
2. Advert
3. Colin Zeal
4. Pressure on Julian
5. Star Shaped
6. Blue Jeans
7. Chemical World
8. Intermission
9. Sunday Sunday
10. Oily Water
11. Miss America
12. Villa Rosie
13. Coping
14. Turn It Up
15. Pop Scene
16. Resigned
17. Commercial Break

Review

Of all the bands to have come out of the Brit-pop scene, Blur have been the most consistently original and just plain good. Actually, they are probably the only major Brit-pop band that I actually like. Damon Albarn was and is a bit of a genius as his reinventions have proven, from baggy trousered Madchester bandwagoner to Brit-pop star, to holographic ape and to composer of fusion Chinese Opera/Circus.

You have to admire the man, and his collaboration with Graham Coxon made Blur doubtlessly the most interesting of the Brit-pop bands. The reason is actually pretty simple: like all Brit-pop bands Blur are derivative, unlike most they are derivative of 100 great different things.

On this album alone you get The Kinks, Brian Eno in his pop phase, early Roxy Music, Adam Ant and so forth and so on. I love them all and Blur are able to synthesise them into something for the 90s. Is it supremely original? Not really. Is it smart and tasteful? Yes.

Track Highlights

1. Chemical World
2. For Tomorrow
3. Star Shaped
4. Sunday Sunday

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Suede and America fuelled my desire to prove to everyone that Blur were worth it." Albarn told Mojo in 2000, "There was nothing more important in my life." Albarn felt the popularity American grunge music was enjoying in Britain at the time would soon run out of steam, and argued that Blur would embody a renaissance of classic British pop on their next album. Although the singer felt Blur had finally found their musical identity, not everbody was convinced with Albarn's new British-centric manifesto. Food Records owner David Balfe, in particular, strongly disagreed, and got into fierce arguments with Albarn over the proposed change in Blur's image. After the still-skeptical Balfe finally relented, Food warily gave Blur the go-ahead to work on their second album with Albarn's first choice of producer, Andy Partridge of XTC. Blur and Partridge began work at The Church, a studio in Crouch End owned by musician Dave Stewart. However, the pairing didn't work out. Bassist Alex James described the sessions as a "disaster"; he added that "as it was all being put together, they were all good parts, but it just wasn't . . . sexy". The band successfully recorded four songs, but they were wary about working in the same conditions again.

Chemical World: